Hydraulic clutch and variablespeed drive



Oct, 19, 1948.

c. H. MYERS ET AL HYDRAULiC CLUTCH AND VARIABIJE SPEED DRIVE Filed Jan. 13, 1944 I 2 Sheets-Shee 1 HM era, v ffufierz (2%6715,

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Oct. 19, 1948. c. H. MYERS .ET AL HYDRAULIC CLUTCH AND VARIABLE SPEED DRIVE Filed Jan. 15, 1944 r 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS.

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Patented Oct. 19, 1948 JIYDRAULIC CLUTCH AND VARIABLE- SPEED DRIVE cecu Harvey Myers and Hubert A.

Chicago, Ill.

Myers,

Application January 13, 1944, Serial No. 518,074 17 Claims. (Cl. 74-294) Our present invention relates to a hydraulic clutch and variable speed drive having automatic variation of the speed with selective control for partial or non-automatic operation if desired.

One object of the invention is to provide a hydraullc clutch and variable speed drive in which various elements thereof such as cylinders, pistons, valves, connecting rods, crank shafts and the like are rotatable as a unit with a power shaft so as to form in effect a fly wheel therefonthus utilizing the weight required for the usual fly wheel necessary on internal combustion and Diesel engines for the parts of the hydraulic drive.

Another object is to provide a device of this general character having control valves which are of balanced type so that they are movable under the effect of centrifugal force, the valves being so arranged and of such weight that the desired control characteristic is secured depending upon merely speeding up the power shaft, and the parts i being so related that at a given speed the effect of a direct drive is secured, whereas between a stand-still position and the direct drive speed, the

effective gear ratio gradually increases during the speed pick-up, period.

Another object is to provide a hydraulic clutch and variable speed drive which is particularly acting centrifugal force acting on the control.

valves or partially so for either providing a declutched operating characteristic or in effect a lower than direct speed when the engin is speeded up, thereby making greater power available for emergencies.

A further object is to provide the selective control adjustable to a position for positively locking the drive in high.

Still a furtherobject is to provide a hydraulic drive having reversing means associated there with, and a pumping means for keeping the oil chamber communicating with the pistons and valves under pressure to eliminate air pockets.

With these'and other objects in view, our invention consists in the construction,arrangement and combination of the various parts of our device whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in our claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a hydraulic clutch and variable speed drive embodying our invention.

Figures '2 and 3 are sectional views on the lines 2.-2 and 3-4 on Figure 1, showing constructional features of a selective control-mechanism.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 44 of Figure 1, showing particularly the automatic control valve arrangement, and;

Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 4 showing the association of certain passageways with an intake valve and with ports of the valve.

On the accompanying drawings we have used' trated as extending into a packing gland 22 of the housing IS. The propeller shaft 1s journaled in a ball bearing assembly 24, and has a splined portion 26 at its-left end. The right hand end extends on through the usual universal joint to the differential of the automobile.

Within the housing i6 is a fly wheel assembly' crank shaft36 for each piston. The cylinders 32 are illustrated as three in number and they are distributed around the axis of rotation of the power shaft Ill. Any desired number of cylinders may be provided. I

The crank shafts 36 have their axes extending radially'from the axis of the shaft l0 and are journaled in bearings 38 and 40. The bearings 38 and 40 are mounted in a gear housing 42 secured to the oil chamber housing 28. Each crank shaft has a crank pin 44 which is operatively connected with its respective piston 34 by a connecting rod 46 and a wrist pin 48.

Keyedpn each crank shaft 36 is a crank shaft gear .50. The gears 50 mesh With a single gear 52 keyed to a driven shaft 54. The gears 55 and 52 as will be noted are of the beveled type. The driven shaft 54 has its left end journaled in a bearing 56 mounted in the housing l8 and retained in position by a retainer ring 60. An oil 3 chamber designated at 82. is formed within the housing 28 and its cover plate 30.

The cover plate 80 it will be noted is secured to the flange I2 by bolts whereby the entire assembly of elements 28 to 80 rotates as a unit and its mass serves as a fly wheel. It is thereby unnecessary to have a fly wheel in addition to the parts Just named to give the desired fly wheel effect for proper operation of the engine. A ring gear 88 may also be secured to the housing 28 for coaction with a Bendix starter in the usual manner, and the ring gear also forms part of the fly wheel.

Within the oil chamber 82 we provide a valve 80 for each piston and cylinder combination.

Each valve 88 is tubular in form and radially slidable in a bore I8 (see Figure 4). Each valve is normally held at its inner limit of sliding movement by a spring Hand is adapted to move outwardly in response to centrifugal force.

. Each valve 88 is provided with a pair of opposite triangular shaped ports I4 to variably coact with a cavity 18 surrounding the sleeve-like valve and communicating as shown in Figure 5v with its cylinder 32 by means of a passageway I8 formed in the cover plate 30. The cavity I8 extends all the way around the valve as shown so that the valve is balanced and oil pressure therefore does not interfere with its free movement under the action of centrifugal force. The passageway I8 also communicates with an intake valve cavity 80 located inwardly of a ball-type intake check valve '82. The valve 821s normally seated by a spring 84 against a valve seat 88. The valve seat 88 communicates directly by means of apassageway 81 with the oil chamber 82 as does also the interior of the valve 88. Such interior is indicated at 08 in Figure 4, and it will be noted that it opens directly into a passageway 80 leading I to the oil chamber 82.

The valves 88 are synchronized with each other by means of rock-arms 82, rock-shafts 84, pinions 88 and a gear 88. The rock arms 82 are confined to lateral sliding movement in slots I00 01' the valves 88 and are secured to the rock shafts by keys or the like. The pinions 98 are likewise keyed to the rock-shafts and the rock-shafts are journaled, as in bearings I02 and I04 in the housing 28 and the housing 42 as shown in Figure 1. The gear 88 is rotatably mounted on a sleeve I08 secured to thehouslng 42 and bushed at I08 for the driven shaft 54.

We provide a selective control in the form of a sleeve IIO slidable on a sleeve-like extension 88 of the gear 88. The sleeve H0 is prevented from rotating by a pin II2 carried thereby and entering a parallel sided slot H4 in the sleeve I08. The pin II2 extends through a quadrilateral shaped slot II8 of the sleeve-like extension 88, the slot shape being best shown in Figure 2.

The sleeve III! has a peripheral groove H8 in which a pair of shoes I are slidably located. Each shoe I20 is pivoted at I22 to an arm I24 of a rock-shaft I28. Only one set of arms and shoes is shown in Figure 1, it being obvious there would be a set for each side of the sleeve H0. The shaft I28 extends to any desirable .point for manually or automatically controlling the apparatus as will hereinafter appear.

For reversing purposes, we provide the following described mechanism within the housing I8. A sprocket I28 is formed on the driven-shaft 84 and is chained by a chain I30 to an idler sprocket I32. The idler sprocket I32 is mounted on an idler shaft I34 journaled in bearings I38 and I38. A reverse gear I40 meshes with a second v 4 reverse gear I42, the gear I42 being splined on the extension 28 of the propeller shaft 20.

The sprocket I28 and the gear I42 are provided with clutch lugs I44 and I48 respectively adapted to mesh with each other, when the gear I42 is shifted out of mesh with the gear I40 and from V the position shown in Figure 1. There is then a direct drive from the driven shaft 84 to the propeller shaft 28 which of course is normal" operation. When it is desirable to drive the automobile in reverse, the adjustment shown in Figure l is made.

For effecting such adjustment a manually controlled rock-shaft I48 is provided having a pair of arms I50 to each of which a shoe I82 is pivoted. The shoes engage the periphery of the gear I42 for shifting the gear'out of mesh with the gear I40 and into engagement with the sprocket I28 at the clutch lugs I44 and I48.

In a hydraulic drive of the character disclosed it is desirable to eliminate air pockets from the oil chamber 82. We accordingly keep the oil therein under slight pressure as by means of a pump IM driven in any suitable manner such as from the idler shaft I34. This pump may be of the ordinary type having a pair of gear-like rbtors with an intake I88 and an outlet I88. In Figure 1 the near side gear has been omitted.

An oil pipe I supplies oil from a sump or pan I82 to the intake I88, the oil being carried at about. the level shownby the dot and dash line I84. The oil itself has been omitted for clarity in the drawings. The sump I82 may be provided with a drain plug I88 if desired.

The pump outlet IE8 is connected as by passageways I88 with an annular groove I10 surrounding the propeller shaft 20. The oil' may flow from this groove through a cross opening II2 into a central bore I14 of the shaft and its extension 28, then through a similar bore I18 in the driven shaft 84. The oil discharges from the left hand end of the driven shaft 54 into the oil chamber 82, although some of it finds its way to the various working parts as by cross-passageways "8 to the sleeve I08. Any oil that exudes from the left end of the sleeve I08 enters the gear housing 42 for oiling the bearings and gears therein. Many of the working parts are thus well lubricated whereas others such as the crank pins and the connecting rods are lubricated by dipping into the sump I82.

Practical operation In the operation of our hydraulic clutch and variable speed drive, the engineconnec-ted to the power shaft I0 may be idling and the brake of the automobile will hold the vehicle from moving. The gear 82 is thereby held against rotation so that rotation of the housings 28 and 42 carries the gears 80,around with them and they thereby rotate for reciprocating the. pistons 34 in the cylinders 32. Since the valves 88 are wide open,

friction of the oil against the sides ofthe passageways through which it travels.

When the brake is released, ordinarily there is enough friction to prevent movement of the vehicle when standing on a level surface without speed-up of the engine. To then effect movement of t e vehicle, the engine is speeded up which causes centrifugal force to start moving the valves ll outwardly. The springs 12 keep them at their position. Closing or partially closing the valves in this manner introduces resistance to the flow of oil so that resistance is in turn oflered to the reciprocations of the pistons 34. Accordingly the turning effect on the gear 52 increasesand the increase -is in proportion to the speed to which the engine is advanced.

. Therefore, the vehicle will start moving and there will be a flexible transmission of power to it with an effective gradual increase in gear ratio until such time as the vehicle has attained a speed corresponding to the speed of the engine. When the valves 68 under the action of centrifugal cordi'ngly, the fly wheel can rotate faster than the gear 52 and the ratio of one to the other can be changed by positioning the pin at different points intermediate the positions H2 and H2 in Figures 2 and 3. Likewise, positions of the pin H2 intermediate 1 i2 and H2 in Figure 2 vary the limit of valve movement between fully closed and full range.

It is obvious from the foregoing specification that we have provided a hydraulic clutch and variable speed drive which is normally automatic force assume their outermost positions, the ports 16 are completely closed and there is then had a direct drive from the power shaft Id to the propeller shaft 20. The pistons at that time are hydraulically locked against movement and the gears 50 no longer rotate relative to the gear 52.

The entire assembly of elements 28 to 50 as well as the valves 68, rock-arms 92, rock-shafts es, pinions 96 andgear 98 then rotates as a unit. At all times such unit serves as a ily wheel regardless of whether it is locked in direct drive or is idling with no driving force transmitted.

When the parts are in the position just described for direct drive," if there is any oil loss from the cylinders past the pistons therein, the loss from any one cylinder occurs while the piston is slowly moving into the cylinder, When the piston reverses (moves outwardly in the cylinder) it is desirable to replace the oil loss with oil from the oil chamber 52. This is accomplished through the check valve 82 which opens due to the suction produced by the piston when traveling outwardly. When it is desirable to reverse the direction of travel of the vehicle the gear I42 can be shifted in a manner already described. Manual or automatic control is also had of ti 2 valves 68 by means of the rock-shaft. I26 operating the pin H2. The pin is normally in the position of Figure 2 so that centrifugal force is free to act on the valves 68 throughout their entire ranges of movement. Movement of the pin H2 to the dotted position indicated at H2 results in the sleeves 99 and W8 being locked against relative movement with the valves 68 in open position. Accordingly centrifugal force cannot move the valves outwardly and the engine can be speeded up without transmitting power to the driven shaft 54 except what little might be imparted thereto due to increased friction of the oil in its passageways at th higher speed with which it is being pumped.

Another adjustment may be had as shown by dot and dash lines 2 and this would look the valves 68 in open position after speed had been attained. The drive is then locked in "high as the springs, 12 are restrained from expanding when centrifugal force acting on the valves decreases.

Still another adjustment position is the pin intermediate H2 and H2 in Figure 2 and this limits the closing movement of the valves as the lower inclined part of the slot l I B is closer to the base of the triangle at these points. Therefore the driver in effect can have a lower speed ratio as the gears 50 are not entirely locked against rotation, but are permitted some rotation. Ac

in operation, and which may be selectively adjusted for effecting either a locked-in direct drive when the pin is in the position H2 ora higher gear ratio than usual for emergencies. By utilizing the weight of the valves and the synchronization mechanism therefor in such a manner that centrifugal force tends to throw the valves outwardly we provide a governing action which openatearelatlvely smoothly and particularly so due to the valves being of balanced character. The valve ports it are made triangular shaped so that their initial movement outwardly permits greater oil flow per unit of movement than when they approach their outward limits of movement. The cut-ofl of oil is therefore tapered off giving finer adjustment at high speed than at low. speed-a desirable operating characteristic in a drive of this I use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope without sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

We claim as our invention: 1. In a hydraulic clutch and variable spee drive, a power shaft, a flywheel assembly driven thereby and comprising cylinders, pistons therein, connecting rods, crank shafts and crank shaft gears rotatable as a unit, said cylinders being distributed around the axis of rotation of said power shaft, said connecting rods connecting said pistons with said crank shafts, a driven shaft having a gear meshing with said crank shaft gears, an oil chamber, balanced valve means interposed between said cylinders and said oil chamber for controlling the flow of oil pumped by said pistons to and from the oil chamber, said valve means comprising a plurality of radially slidable valves distributed around said axis of rotation and closable by centrifugal force, and means for synchronizing the movement of said valves.

2. A hydraulic clutch and variable speed drive comprising a power shaft, a fly wheel assembly driventhereby and comprising cylinders, pistons therein connecting rods, crank shafts, crank shaft gears, an oil chamber, valves located between said cylinder and said 011 chamber for controlling the flow of oil pumped by said pistons to and from the oil chamber, and synchronizing means for said valves, the foregoing elements being rotatable as a unit, said cylinders, pistons and valves being distributed around the axis of rotation of said power shaft, said connecting rods connecting said pistons with said crank shafts, and a, driven shaft having a gear meshing with said crank shaft gears, said valves being radially slidable, closable as they move outwardly and being so moved by centrifugal force.

3. In a hydraulic clutch and variable speed drive, a power shaft, oil pumping means driven thereby and comprising cylinders, pistons therein,

7 connecting rods, crank shafts and crank shaft gears rotatable as a unit, said cylinders being distributed around the axis of rotationof said power sh'aft, said connecting rods connecting said pistons with said crank shafts, a driven shaft having I to slide radially and distributed around said ards of rotation and closable by centrifugal force Mt.

ing directly on the valves.

ii In a hydraulicclutch and variable speed drive, a power shaft, 011 pumping means driven thereby, and comprising cylinders, pistons therein, connecting rods, crank shafts and crank shaft gears rotatable as a unit, said cylinders being distributed around the axis of rotation of said power shaft, said connecting rods connecting said pistons with said crank shafts, a driven shaft having a gear meshing with said crank shaft gears, an oil chamber, valves for controlling the flow of oil pumped by said pistons to and from said oil chamber, said valves being movable by centrifugal force acting directly thereon to decrease the oil flow with an increase of speed of said fly wheel assembly for automatically governed control of said driven shaft from said power shaft, said valves having tapered ports to permit greateroil flow per unit of movement at their radial inner ends of their travel than at their radial outer ends thereof.

.5. In a hydraulic clutch and variable speed drive, a power shaft, a fly wheel assembly driven thereby, and comprising oil pumping means and control valves for the pumped oil, a driven shaft rotated by said power shaft whensaid valves are partially or fully closed, said valves being hydraulically balanced, radially slidable and movable by centrifugal force acting directly.

thereon to decrease the oil flow with an increase of speed of said fly wheel assembly for automatically controlling the speed of said driven shaft from said power shaft, and selective control means for reducing or preventing the throw of said valves due to said centrifugal force acting thereon, said selective control means comprising levers directly engaging said valves for positively keeping them open or for positively closing them.

6; In a drive of the character described, a power shaft, a-fiy wheel assembly driven thereby, and comprising cylinders, pistons therein, connecting rods, crank shafts and crank shaft gears rotatable as a unit, said cylinders being distributed around the axis of rotation of said power shaft, said connecting rods connecting said pistons with said crank shafts, a driven shaft having a gear meshing with said crank shaft gears, balanced valves for controlling the flow of oil pumped by said pistons,.said balanced valves being radially movable by centrifugal force-acting directly on the valves to decrease the oil flow with an increase of speed of saidfiy wheel assembly, and selective control means for reducing or preventing the throw of said balanced valves due to centrifugal force acting on the valves.

7. In a drive of the character described, a power shaft, a fly wheel assembly driven thereby and including pumping means, a driven shaft geared to said pumping means, valves for controlling the flow of oil pumped by said pumping means, said valves being movable .by centrifugal force to'decrease the oil flow with an increase of speed of said fly wheel assembly, selective control means for reducing the throw of said valves due to centrifugal force, synchronizing means for said valves, said selective control means comprising an element of said synchronizing means and an element carried by said driven shaft having slots, and a pin in said slots permitting free relative movement of said elements when in One position and preventing such relative movement when in another position, with intermediate positions of the pin variably limiting the relative movement.

8. In a drive of the character described, a power shaft, a fly wheel assembly driven thereby and including pumping means, a driven shaft geared to said pumping means, valves for controlling the flow oi. oil pumped by said pumping means, springs tending to open said valves, said valves .being movable radially by centrifugal force acting on the valves to slide them against the bias of said springs and thereby decrease the oil flow with an increase of speed of said fly wheel assembly for automatically governed control of said driven shaft from said power shaft, said,

valves having substantially triangular shaped ports to permit greater oil flow per unit of movement at the inner ends of their travel than at the outer ends thereof, and selective control means for reducing or preventing the throw of said valves due to said centrifugal force acting thereon said selective control means comprising synchronized levers directly engaging said valves for positively keeping them open, positively closing them, or limiting their closing or opening movement.

9. In a hydraulic clutch and variable speed drive, a power shaft, a fly wheel assembly driven thereby, and comprising oil pumping means, valves for controllingthe flow of oil pumped by said pumping means, said valves being movable by centrifugal force to decrease the oil flow with an increase of speed of said fiy wheel assembly, synchronizing means for said valves comprising rock shafts, rock arms attached thereto and coacting with said valves, pinions on said rockshafts and a gear rotatable about the axis of said driven shaft and meshing with said pinions, and selective means for locking said gear against rotation relative to said fly wheel assembly, said rockshafts, rock arms and pinions being rotatable with and forming a part of said fly wheel assembly.

10. In a hydraulic clutch and variable speed drive, a power shaft, a fly wheel assembly driven thereby, and comprising cylinders, pistons therein, connecting rods, crank shafts, crank shaft gears, control valvesv and synchronizing means therefor rotatable as a unit, said valves being movable by centrifugal force to decrease the oil other position, with intermediate positions of the pin variably limiting the relative movement, and means to move said pin to its different adjusted positions.

11. In a hydraulic clutch and variable speeddrive, a power shaft, a fly wheel assembly driven thereby and comprising cylinders, pistons therein, connecting-rods, crank shafts andcrank shaft gears rotatable as a unit, bearings for said crankshaft gears, said cylinders being distributed around the axis of rotation of said power shaft, said connecting rods connecting said pistons with said crank shafts, a driven shaft having a gear meshing with said crank shaft gears, valves for controlling the flow of oil pumped by said pistons, a reservoir, an oil chamber communicating with said cylinders through said valves and having on outlet through said crankshaft gears and said bearings, and pump means for pumping oil from said reservoir, supplying it to and maintaining it under pressure in said 011 chamber and causing it to flow through said crankshaft gears and said controlling the flow of pumpedoil, a reservoir,

an oil chamber communicating with said pump means through said valves, said pump means pumping oil to and from said oil chamber, and additional pump means for pumping oil from said reservoir, supplying and maintaining it under pressure in said oil chamber and for oiling said gears and bearings with the oil leaving said. oil chamber.

13. In a hydrauliecliitch and variable speed drive, a power shaft, a fly wheel assembly driven thereby, and comprising cylinders, pistons therein, connecting rods, crank shafts, crank shaft gears, bearings. for said crankshafts, balanced valves for. controlling the flow of oil pumped by said pistons, and synchronizing means for said valves, all rotatable as a unit, said connecting rods connecting said pistons with said crank shafts, a driven shaft having a gear meshing with said crank shaft gears, a reservoir, an oil chamber communicating with said cylinders, said valves being located between said cylinders and said oil chamber, and pump means for pumpin oil from said reservoir and supplying it under pressure to said 011 chamber, said oil chamber having areturn to said reservoir through said gears and bearings.

14. In a hydraulic clutchand variable speed drive, a power shaft, a pump assembly driven thereby and including pumping means and gears,

a driven shaft having a gear meshing with said first gears, valves for controlling the flow of pumped oil and thereby the braking effect of said pumping means on said first gears, said valves being radially movable by centrifugal'force acting directly thereon to decrease the oil flow with an increase of speed ofsaid pump assembly for automatically governed control of said driven shaft from said power shaft, and selective means to limit the radial throw of said valves as caused by centrifugal force to effect a reduced speed rgtitot of said driven shaft relative to said (power s a 15. In a hydraulic clutch and variable speed drive, a power shaft, 9. pump assembly driven thereby and including pumping means and gears, a driven shaft having a gear meshing with said first gears, valves for controlling the flow of 10 pumped oiland thereby the braking effect of said pumping means on said'first gears, said valves being movable by centrifugal force to decrease the oil flow with an increase of speed of said pump assembly for automatically governed control of said driven shaft from said power shaft,

. selective means to limit the throw of said valves chamber.

to effect a reduced speed ratio of said driven shaft relative to said power shaft, a reservoir, an oil chamber communicating with said pumping means, and additional pump means for pump ing oil from said reservoir and supplying it to and maintaining it under pressure in said 0'1 16. In a hydraulic clutch and variable speei drive, a power shaft, a driven shaft, a flywheel assembly driven by said power shaft and comprising oil pumping means, a gear housing rotatable on said driven shaft, geared connection". between said drive shaft and said 011 pumpin means including intermediate shafts Journaled in said gear housing, valves for controlling the flow of oil pumped by said pumping means, means for synchronizing said valves comprising rock shafts journaled in said gear housing, a rock arm attached to one end of each rock shaft and coacting with said valves at one end of said gear housing, pinions on the other ends of said rock shafts at the other end of said gear housing, and a gear rotatable about the axis of said driven shaft and meshing with said pinions;

17. In a hydraulic clutch and varlable'speed drive, a power shaft, pumping means driven thereby and including cylinders, pistons therein, connecting rods,'crank shafts and gears, a driven shaft operatively connected with said pistons by means of said connecting rods, crank shafts and gears, an oil-chamber, balanced valve means interposed between said cylinders and said 011 chamber for controlling the flow of oil pumped by said pistons to and from the oil chamber, said valve means comprising aplurality of radial slidably tubular valves distributed around the axis of rotation and closed by centrifugal force, each of said tubular valves having a plurality of intake ports equally distributed around its periphcry for receiving oil from said cylinders and having an outlet to said oil chamber from the interior of the tubular valve.

CECIL HARVEY MYERS. HUBERT A. MYERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle'of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS France June 13, 1925 

